Elizabeth Davenport, Author at Sunny Side Up Nutrition

Family Holiday Recipes

We’ve entered the holiday season and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Maybe you’re headed to celebrate with family or friends. What dish do you like to contribute? If you order your meal or enjoy your Thanksgiving meal at a restaurant, what are your favorites? Last year we stayed home because of the pandemic. Though we missed our family, we had a lovely time just the four of us. Wherever we are, we make what we think of as our traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Chad and I make our Brussels sprouts, and I make mashed potatoes and Thanksgiving dessert: Pumpkin Steamed Pudding topped with plenty of lightly sweetened whipped cream. And last year I made these delicious Buttermilk Rolls that were so good we voted them onto our family Thanksgiving menu permanently.

Anna always makes her family holiday recipes for Corn Pudding and Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie. I also now also make Anna’s corn pudding for holiday gatherings! It’s so simple and delicious! I love her pumpkin pie too!

Thanksgiving desserts — Pumpkin Steamed Pudding

Holiday Baking

If you enjoy baking cookies for the holidays and making food gifts like pumpkin bread and homemade granola, we’ve got some recipes you’ll want to try this holiday season! Last yer I made small loaves Spiced Pumpkin bread for Christmas gifts for our neighbors. This year, I also want to make Deb Perlman’s incredibly delicious Apple Cider Caramels to give as gifts (and to enjoy ourselves).

Molasses Spice Cookies
Carmelitas – A Simple, Delicious Dessert
A Sugar Cookie Recipe Plus Simple Tips for Cooking with Kids
Festive Chocolate Chip Cookies (substitute red and green M & M’s in the recipe)
Spiced Pumpkin Bread
Homemade Granola

Tips to navigate food and diet talk during the holidays

If you’re wondering how to navigate food and diet talk around the holidays, we’ve got just the resources for you. Check out our podcast episode and blog posts.

Happy Holidays! What are your holiday food traditions?

It’s fall y’all! I love making these molasses spice cookies as the weather starts to cool off and the leaves start to turn. Of course, you don’t have to wait for fall! They taste great any time of the year. These cookies are soft, chewy, packed with flavor, and have a lovely sugar crust.

Make molasses spice cookies for your next get-together.

They’re a crowd-pleaser! They taste incredible while still warm from the oven. (My older daughter loves to heat these for a few seconds in the microwave before eating them.) Next time you go to a friend’s house for dinner or have people over, make the cookie dough ahead and bake the cookies once dinner is over. Your guests will be thrilled! Who doesn’t love freshly baked, still warm cookies?!? They’re delicious on their own or served alongside vanilla or pumpkin (Graeter’s is my personal fav) ice cream.

What’s wrong with sweets? Nothing!

Do you worry about offering sweets to your kids? What is it about allowing sweets that worries you? So often, the messages we hear vilify sweets. But, sweets aren’t the problem! Fear-based messaging is the problem! We’ve all had someone tell us that foods like cookies don’t have any nutrients. That’s FALSE! Cookies (and other sweets) do contain nutrients. The cookies in this recipe contain carbohydrates (flour and sugar), protein (egg), and fat (butter). Sweets also taste good, they’re part of family traditions, and they’re fun to eat! If you’d like practical tips on offering sweets, read Anna’s post What About Dessert?. I also highly recommend the post Let’s Talk About Sugar by Le’Vena Tan, Nutrition Masters Student & Guest Post Writer.

Cooking and baking with kids

I’ve been baking versions of molasses spice cookies since I was a kid – so for a long time! A wonderful babysitter knew I loved to bake and gave me my very first cookbook when I was maybe 9 or 10—Betty Crocker’s Cookies. The recipe below is adapted from that cookbook. I’ve always loved to cook and bake—one of my earliest and fondest memories was cooking lunch, (open-faced toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup) at preschool for our parents. Who would I be if my preschool teacher, Harriett Andrews, hadn’t had us cook lunch for our parents?? Here at Sunny Side Up Nutrition, we’re big fans of cooking with kids. Baking cookies offers lots of ways for kids of all ages to help! If you’d like more info and simple ways to cook with kids, read my posts, Simple Tips for Cooking with Kids and Homemade Soft Pretzels – Cooking with Kids Part 2.

Questions about baking molasses spice cookies

Can I use light brown sugar instead of dark brown?

Sure, just know that the cookies will be lighter in color and won’t have quite as much depth of flavor. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses than light brown so it’s got a more complex flavor and is darker in color.

Is there any way to easily get the molasses out of the measuring cup?

Very lightly spray the inside of the measuring cup with Pam cooking spray.

What if I don’t have a scoop to make the cookie dough balls?

No worries! You can scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough using a tablespoon measure or a regular spoon. Then roll the dough into a ball with your hand. If you want to purchase cookie dough scoops, click here for the ones I have. Any brand will do though.

Let us know if you have other questions!

Drop your questions in the comments section which you can find at the top of the blog post.

Molasses Spice Cookies

Print Recipe

These molasses spice cookies are soft, chewy, packed with flavor, and have a lovely sugar crust.

Author: Elizabeth Davenport
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minute
Total Time: 38 minutes
Yield: about 36 cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup room temperature, unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup granulated sugar for coating

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Gather your ingredients together.
Measure flour, spices, salt, baking soda into a medium mixing bowl and gently whisk to combine
Place the butter and dark brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment cream the butter and brown sugar on medium-high for approx 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add the molasses to the butter-sugar mixture and mix on medium speed to combine.
Add the egg and mix to combine.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again.
Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed to combine.
Put the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar in a bowl. Scoop the cookie dough using a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie dough scoop. Place the dough balls on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Roll each ball of dough in the granulated sugar and transfer back to the sheet pan. Gently press each ball of cookie dough with the palm of your hand to flatten out the roundness just a bit.
Bake cookies for approximately 8-10 minutes*. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.
Makes about 36 small cookies

Notes

I bake them for 8 minutes, but ovens vary. If they look like they need a few more minutes, give them a minute or so longer in the oven.

Elizabeth Davenport